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Funky fun machine

I love reading and I have so many books that they are taking up the house! My husband bought me my Kindle Fire as a Christmas gift a couple of Christmases ago and I absolutely love it.

The Kindle Fire is a handy little device from Amazon that lets you stores books electronically and it can hold a fair few (I am not really sure how many but I am guessing quite a lot). What I also love about the Kindle Fire is that you can use your wifi so you can use the internet and play games and downloads apps on it, which is totally ideal if you are into the modern technology and you do not have to keep switching between your phone and your Kindle Fire if you want to look something up.

I love how light and slim the device it. It is about seven inches for the screen which is big enough for me. Reading and downloading books onto the Kindle Fire is amazingly easy and all you have to do is set up an Amazon account with your card details on and whenever you find a book in the Amazon store that you fancy, simply click the download button and it is onto your device in seconds. Amazon have a wide range of books suitable for all readers too.

What I love about the Kindle Fire is that I do not have to worry about storage space anymore for my books (although I still have all of them and do occasionally go back to them). The Kindle Fire tells you how far through you are through your book and what I found as a bonus feature you can change the colour of the background when you are reading. There are four or five colours. There is white, which to be honest is just a bit too sharp for me and I tend to go with the creamy colour. There is a also a pale green and my favourite is the black screen with white text as it is very handy for bedtime if you want to read in the dark.

All in all, I think the Amazon Kindle Fire is a wonderful little device and I do not know what I would do without it!

Great Kindle, shame they did away with the camera feature

To begin with the Kindle is very lightweight. It comes in a black branded box and is easy to use.
It has an on/off button and also one to control the volume. Apart from that all there is on the Kindle itself is a slot to plug in the charger and a small one in case you wish to use headphones. The Kindle takes 4 hours to fully charge and it is said to provide around 10 hours of use.
The sound is good. It works by means of a touch screen.

===e-books===
These days there are hundreds of free books online with Amazon. You can download them into your machine to read offline, or you can delete it from your Kindle until you want to use it – it will still be stored in you 'cloud', an online storage facility offered by Amazon.
===Audio Books===
Any books purchased on Audible can be listened to when offline. You can also find many audio books on Youtube.
===Emails===
I use my Kindle to check gmail and aol.
===Facebook===
This allows me to keep up to date with family and friends.
===Games===
I am not an avid gamer but really enjoy Candy Crush.
===Online Newspapers===
I read the Mail online daily and it is updated a few times a day.
===Web Browsing===
The Kindle uses a browser called 'Silk'.
===Apps===
Apps are Applications that you can buy to use on your Kindle; some are free. There are thousands on Amazon.
===Child Safety Features===
The Kindle does have a feature to limit the amount of time a child can use it for.
===Youtube===
There are loads of meditations and talking books and with an app called 'Vtube' they can be downloaded.
===Radio & TV===
This means you can listen or watch.

Little Criticisms
===Camera==
Or lack of. The previous version did have a camera but this 'improved' version does not.
===Reading Outdoors===
If out in sunlight it is impossible to read.
===Adverts===
Some people get annoyed that the first page you see is an advert from Amazon.
===Keyboards===
No facility to plug in a small keyboard.

===Conclusion===
I use it daily. It is lightweight and easy to use and quicker to check my emails and Facebook messages on it than to bother with the pc or laptop.
I often take the Kindle out into the garden to listen to audio books.

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"brilliant battery life"

"easy to use"

small

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"does not support flash "

great for reading books with and surfing the web

I was bought this Kindle as a Christmas present last year. I love reading books so this was perfect for me, plus it saves a lot of space rather than having a heap of real books which in my opinion take up far too much space, especially if you read all the time!

The Kindle has a number of uses, unlike the original kindle which was only a book reader. The device has an internet system, provided by an operator called Silk.
Silk is ok, but i would not say it is a feature of this product, as it can crash if a number of pages are open.

There are a number of apps available for this tablet, so it is like a computer as well as a book reader. The battery life on the Kindle is excellent. It can last, with average use, for three days without the need of charging it. As long as the brightness on the tablet is not turned to high the battery life is fantastic, better than most tablets.

You can buy your books directly on the tablet through the amazon store, which is very helpful and there are hundreds if not thousands of books available to buy or in some cases even get for free. Also, all of the books are stored in one place so there is no messing around having to search for a book all over the tablet.

I use my tablet mostly for reading but i do on the odd occasion like to play a game or two on it because the graphics are really good. The best game i think is Boggle, which is a classic word game, which is available for free. There is becoming more and more apps available for the kindle too which i think is brilliant.

When you first start up the tablet, you are prompted to set up or sign into your amazon account which allows you to use the app store. There are lots of apps you can buy or get for free including games, fact pages and my favorite, the alarm clock, it certainly wakes me up every morning!

The device also benefits from a small camera on the front of the tablet, great for taking snaps and storing them. The camera is not great quality but it does serve its purpose. Most tablets do not have a camera so this is a positive for this.
This tablet is perfect for everyone, it has a little something to suit everyone''''s needs and is surprisingly inexpensive for what it is too!

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Overall, the Kindle Fire is a intuitively brilliant invention and I am so glad I got one.

I got a Kindle Fire as of last year, and have to say that I find it amazing! I was rather apprehensive, as there is no experience such as holding a book, but I am glad to say that I was pleasantly surprised. It has very good graphics, and many options of font sizes, fonts, and colors of the pages. I find it amazing also, how cheap the books are to buy on the Kindle Shop; in fact most of the time the books are more than half price cheaper than in paperback versions! There are also loads of books that have never been published before in shops for you to try out and there are also a lot of free books which really is amazing! The only problems I find with the Kindle Fire is that it is fairly heavy and that it does not beat the feel of holding a book in your hand. The second can't be fixed, although the first can easily be rectified by buying a case that stands it up. Overall, this is a great and money-saving invention!

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Lovely little device to take with me wherever i go!

When i was looking into buying an e-reader last Christmas, the Kindle Fire was not at the top of my list. The main thing i wanted to be able to do with my new gadget was to have the ability to download public domain books for free, rather than going out to buy a hard copy of the book itself.

Now, the Kindle Fire is not your typical e-reader, it is rather more like a tablet. The main thing which drew me in to this particular model is the fact that i would be able to download my books as i had wished, but also that i could browse the internet and download some fun apps. If it is simply reading you are after, go for one of the specific e-reader Kindles, but if you want everything else as well then this is definitely the tablet to go for!

I chose the Kindle Fire over the Kindle Fire HD purely because of the price. I really didn't see the point of paying extra for the sake of a camera and a little more memory. If you think you will use either of these then it might be worth considering the more expensive option. If you are sticking to a budget, you really don't need to worry about missing out on these differences, they aren't necessary.

The tablet comes in a sealed cardboard box with instructions, and one thing i would recommend buying alongside your purchase is some form of protective cover, a charger and also a touch screen pen, as these do not come with your Kindle.

The device itself feels quite sturdy and actually pleasant to hold! One thing i did worry about was that it wouldn't feel quite as nice to hold as a book, but it is generally quite light and small, and you can turn the page of a book with just one tap. What i would say is that if you like to read in bed, it is difficult to use the Kindle lying down because the screen does like to turn to face upwards.

When you first turn the Kindle on, there is an advert displayed on the screen, but i hear that this cuts down the cost of the device, and so i really don't mind it being there. I have never felt the need to tap on any of the ads, although some of them have been quite useful, such as for the free apps of the day. The device turns on very quickly, and this is especially useful when i want immediate internet access.

I feel like there is a good choice of apps, although these did take a while to get to the Kindle versions. For example, Candy Crush only came out on the Kindle a few weeks ago, when we all know that it has been available on iPhones etc for much longer. There are some apps that seem to disagree with the device, and there have been a few that have caused my Kindle to freeze or restart itself. I usually put this down to being the app's fault, and after i remove it from the Kindle it doesn't suffer anymore.

I was under the impression when i bought the device that i would be able to store my music collection on there. I could, if they were all stored on the cloud. Unfortunately, that means i can't have music or movies on my Kindle, unless i buy and download them from the Amazon store. Not a massive problem, as that isn't particularly what i wanted the device for, but it would have been nice for this to be a little clearer before purchase.

All in all, i do love my little Kindle. It is great to take with me anywhere i go, whether that be lectures, back home for the weekend or on a trip away. I have plenty of useful apps, games and books to keep me entertained, and it is fast enough to give me the instant internet access that i love. If you want a relatively inexpensive tablet to play games and read books, i would definitely recommend that you choose this.

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Brilliant for the money.

I can not fault the kindle fire, it is more then just an e-reader, its got built in wifi which allows my son to run off my home broadband & access the internet, ok some things you can't get into because of flashplayer? (cant really explain that one as not very techi) However it does everything that he wants for the price, I would so recommend this product.

You get a lead to charge through you pc. However this takes quite some time, so i would recommend buying a plug in fast charger, we got a universal one for £10.. Just to say we had some teething problems early on, and i must say Amazons customer service is amazing, they really are, couldnt do enough to help.

you do have to put your card details in to register, but you can opt to turn off the click to buy thing, which my boy did a few times with games he didnt realise it was that quick!

my rating for this product is 10/10

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I love my Kindle!

~~~~~~~~Book worm~~~~~~~~I absolutely love books, and have done for as long as I can remember. When the first e-reader was launched, I found the idea of reading an electronic version of a book to be completely ridiculous, and wanted nothing to do with them. Then my husband received one as a gift and I read a book or two on it - which I liked, but I still wasn't quite converted...

But then the Kindle Fire was launched and I did start to think about taking the plunge and buying an e-reader. I deliberated about it for ages, and finally decided to give it a go.

~~~~~~~~~The Kindle fire~~~~~~~~~Amazon sells a range of Kindle e-readers, from the very basic version that my husband has, which costs £69, to the Kindle Fire family. I bought the most basic version for £120ish, but there is now a wider range available and all seem to have an HD option.

Despite myself, I was pretty excited when my new Kindle arrived! I found it really easy to set up - I connected with ease to my home wifi, and then synched up with my existing amazon account. I then had to get to grips with using the Kindle...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hating the homepage~~~~~~~~~~~~~~So at the bottom of the Kindle is a small button that you use or switch it on or off. Then the Kindle homepage has an ad on it (although you can pay extra to not have these ads, but they really don't bother me as this is the only time they appear). Simply swipe the screen to unlock, the ad disappears and you are onto the 'Carousel' homepage. This is actually one of the main things I don't like about the Kindle. In the centre of the screen is the carousel itself, which are icons displaying the last thing you looked at on the Kindle. So if my daughter plays a few games on here, the icons will appear as the first things I see when I unlock the Kindle. Although you can remove these icons from the carousel, the next time someone opens the game or whatever, the icon appears again. I personally don't really like this, as I would like to choose my own homescreen icons, rather than it being a bit random. The most useful thing on the homepage is a list along the top with each of the different things you can use the Kindle for - so Books, Apps, Photos, Web, etc. At the bottom of the screen, the Kindle recommends stuff to you - so books based on other things you have downloaded, or games, etc. Again, this is something I could do without, and I find the fact that this screen can't be customised a bit of an annoyance really and is definitely the main downside of the Kindle.

~~~~~~~~~~~Appy distractions~~~~~~~~~~~Although I bought the Kindle ostensibly to read books, I did find myself very distracted by the fact that I could download free apps and games! And even now, I find that I go to read a book but get sidelined quite easily. There are loads of different apps and games to download, and this is great if you want more than just books - although of course the apps and games vary massively in quality - and there is a lot of rubbish out there! I also stick to the freebies, but there are plenty of options you can pay for - and also loads of games try and get you to make purchases after the game has been downloaded, so if you have a young person using your Kindle then make sure you go to the settings and disable this option, so you don't find yourself with a big bill for stuff you never wanted!

I really like the apps and games element of the Kindle, and as well as stuff for me I have found a few fun games for my daughter to play too which is nice. The games that you can only play so much without buying add-ons do irritate me, but something I can live with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Surfing the worldwide web~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I sometimes use the Kindle to go online and surf the web. Personally I prefer a full size screen to do this but if I want to look something up very quickly, check the news, or have a quick browse at a shop's website or something, then this does the job. It certainly isn't a primary function for me but it is an added bonus, and it's certainly preferable than trying to look stuff up on my Smartphone. I quite like browsing online if I'm in bed and wouldn't really want to be on my laptop - it is good for a bit of online window shopping!

~~~~~~~~~~~~Read all about it!~~~~~~~~~~~~So onto the books, which is the main reason I bought my Kindle. I really enjoy reading books on here, and although it did take me a while to get used to it I now like reading on my Kindle as much as I like to read traditional books. You can simply buy books from amazon and they appear pretty much instantly on the Kindle, so you can start reading straight away. You can adjust the font size, change the background colour, change the font and so on so you can easily tailor the look of the 'book' to your own needs and preferences. To turn the page you simply tap the right hand side of the screen, or to flip back you tap the left hand side. You can also highlight a word and get an instant dictionary definition, as well as see how far through the book you are by percentage, and how long in hours it will take you to complete the book. You can add notes and bookmarks if you want to, and once you've finished a book you are automatically taken back to the amazon page to write a review if you wish.

So overall it is really easy to upload and read books on the Kindle, and I really like reading on it. The one thing I did expect was that Kindle books would be cheaper than 'real' books, but in the main they are not and prices vary and are really random. However books do tend to go on offer and you can often find books for a few quid and even less. There are also lots of free ebooks. The free books include lots of classics, as well as a lot of self-published books. I have read a few of the self-published freebies and I have to say that in the main these haven't been great - I have read some books with spelling or grammatical errors in literally every paragraph! So watch out for those. Another bonus is that you can download free samples of books from amazon, so you can check out a few chapters of any books before you splash the cash on them.

All your books - and in fact anything else you download on the Kindle - is also saved on the amazon Cloud drive, so once you have read a book you can, if you like, delete it from your Kindle, but you still have it saved online. I would actually like a way to organise books on the Kindle, such as into ones I have read, and so on, but as it is everything goes into one folder of books. I would also like to be able to do this with my apps, because I seem to have lots on there so it would be useful to be able to create a folder for, say, my daughter's games, but this is sadly something that can't be done.

~~~~~~~~~Strike a pose~~~~~~~~~There is a folder on the Kindle where you can store photos - I did upload some of my pics onto here when I first got the Kindle, although to be honest it is kind of pointless! However it is good to know you can store your pics on the online Cloud drive as a back-up.

~~~~~~~~Charge it up~~~~~~~~In terms of charging the Kindle, this comes with a cable that you can plug into a PC or laptop to charge the Kindle. There is no mains adapter and you have to buy one - amazon recommends its own super-fast one. And - call me cynical - but the charger that you plug into a computer charges really slowly - no doubt in an attempt to force you to buy the amazon charger. I am lucky that my phone charger works to charge the Kindle, but again this is really slow. So I would say this is one downside to buying the Kindle, and you may want to factor in having to buy a charger. You also definitely need a case to protect the Kindle - I bought a cheap one which has done the job perfectly so don't feel obliged to buy the amazon recommended ones!

~~~~~~~~~In summary...~~~~~~~~~All in all I really like my Kindle Fire and think it is great for the price, compared to other tablets. I really enjoy reading books on it and I find it's really convenient and easy to use, and it is great for travelling. The downsides are the homescreen as I personally don't like the carousel, and the fact that I can't organise my books and other downloads, but this is something I can live with and doesn't spoil my overall enjoyment of the gadget. I also think it's a bit cheeky of amazon not to include a decent charger! But overall it is a thumbs up from me. It is the perfect tablet for someone who doesn't need loads of flashy stuff and also wants to read books!

Four and a half stars.

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Go get one if u havent already

My cousin over the past few years has collected a few to many books that her room is starting look more like a library and not like a bedroom. So, her birthday was approaching and had no idea of what to get for her, until someone had mentioned about a kindle and how great they were. so i stumbled across the Kindle fire..and thats how i got to buying one.

I cant speak from personal experience as i dont have one...yet... but from what im hearing she loves it and it has became like an accessory that has to stay by her side 24-7

The kindle fire is smart and very modern looking which looks great and is simple to use. I didn't realize until i read up on the product that its much more than just an E-reader!! The range of apps are unbelievable! there are loads and loads of new games and apps being updated every week or so and with internet browsing via wifi you can access Facebook and all the other social networking sites.

In my opinion Although I cant compare it to other similar tablets because i have yet to try one out, i'd defo say that the Kindle fire has became such a great product that is handy for book lovers.

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Easy to use - even for technophobes like me.

Having been very pleased with the Amazon Kindle I received as a Christmas gift last year - I decided it was time to upgrade to the Kindle Fire and bought myself an 7" LCD Display, Wi-Fi, 8GB basic model recently.

I felt it was a bold move on my part - I have never had a tablet device of any kind before, but I have seen other people's and been quietly envious. My daughter's groaned when they heard I had ordered the device. "It's so middle-aged and middle-class," carped my eldest. I wasn't aware until then that my desire to own the product was mired in cliché and my finger hovered over the 'cancel order' button on my Amazon account on more than one occasion.

Nevertheless, the product was delivered swiftly and I received it in its distinctive slim, black box with the wedged end. The Kindle Fire lay before me shining, sleek and black in its packaging aside its USB charger. I plugged it into the USB port on my computer and let it charge for a couple of hours and then began to use it.

I had been sent an e-mail from Amazon prior to my Kindle Fire's arrival extolling its virtues and stressing how simple it is to use. Indeed, it is a simple device to use - even for the non-technically minded like myself. All I had to do was to register it onto my home Wi-Fi and go onto my Amazon account. All my previously purchased books were there in glorious colour - a surprise to see them in that format after using my black and white kindle for so long. I was also ready to 'surf the net' on this device through Amazons kindle browser which is called 'Silk.'

Basically, you can shop, play games, download apps, books from Amazon, play music, videos, buy digital newspapers and magazines, surf the web, check your e-mail and look at photos and documents from the Amazon Cloud on this device. If you have never had Lovefilm, Amazons streaming service before, you are given a months free trial with this device. I had already had a trial run at Lovefilm and didn't think it was very good so I didn't get that - but I am signed up to Netflix and you can watch that on this device instead once you download the app. There are loads of free apps for different services. Some apps incur a small charge. Usefully, Amazon offers a paid app for free every day. I haven't downloaded very many apps thus far - just the things I use a lot like Googlesearch, BBC iplayer etc. I have little desire to download 'Funny Sounds,' 'Baby nursery rhymes,' 'Top Gear News,' or 'Funny Jokes.' There are loads of apps and games - few of which I am interested in, but I am sure they are appreciated by many people.

Curiously, I found a few games suddenly appeared on my Kindle one day - at first this confused me, but then my eldest (she of the aforementioned derisive comment) admitted she'd had 'a bit of a go' with my Kindle. She grudgingly admitted that it was a better device than she had thought. (Ha!)

After having had my Kindle Fire for almost two weeks I have my own list of pros and cons with it. Overall, I love the functionality of this device - but I do have a list of niggles:

Although it comes with a USB charger it does not come with a mains charger and I soon found out it takes hours and hours to charge using the USB port - at least six hours if you've run the battery right down. This was very frustrating and I was forced to order a mains charger from Amazon which takes a fraction of that time. This is an extra cost you have to bear in mind if you order a Kindle Fire. Since you get a free trial of the Amazon Prime service (free one day delivery and the chance to borrow certain paid for kindle books for free) when you buy the Kindle Fire at least the charger was delivered quickly.

When I first got the device and started using it I thought the battery life was appalling. The battery life marker in the right hand corner emptied alarming quickly - I'd watch a couple of films and the battery would be almost gone again. I worried at first that there was something wrong with my Kindle - but then one of my children noted that I had the brightness and volume on maximum settings. Once these were toned down the battery lasts a reasonable amount of time. How long it lasts seems to depend on what you are doing on the Kindle. Although, I don't think this device would win awards for its battery life, I now use it intermittently throughout the day before it needs another charge and I am happy enough with it.

The screen is very reflective and you can't use it in bright sunlight. This is a shame as I had visions of me sitting outside on the sun-lounger surfing the net and watching re-runs of Relic Hunter on Netflix. Sadly, this was not to be.

I am slowly getting used to the touch screen. This is my first touch-screen device and I have stubby fingers - not a winning combination. I have sent multiple e-mails, blank e-mails, and found myself on some very weird websites quite by accident. I am also very ham-fisted with the keyboard which pops up whenever you tap into an area which can be written into. I don't think I am going to be using the device to post any reviews any time soon. I must order a stylus. Sigh - another unforeseen cost of this device.

Overall, however, I love the Kindle Fire. It has a clear, bright screen which makes it a delight to use as an e-reader and to watch TV programmes and films on. My Kindle is not HD but even so I am very impressed by the clarity and sharpness of the picture quality on this device. It is remarkably user friendly - when you open up the device you have a carousel of your most browsed apps/books waiting for you. I surf the internet with ease, read books, watch programmes. These are the functions which I personally bought this device to do and it performs these functions well. For the £139 price paid for this device I wasn't expecting something akin to a laptop but I have been pleasantly surprised by the versatility of this device. I am becoming quite attached to my Kindle Fire and foresee a long and happy association with it - if that makes me middle-aged and middle-class then so be it.

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Best choice at the price point.

I bought the Kindle Fire for my 6 year old son, who needed a replacement for an android tablet with which we were both unhappy.

I found it very easy to set up, and add to the home wifi. I was also reassured by how easy it was to set up parental controls, and restrictions on things like in app purchasing and internet activity. (My son reads fluently, and is an avid user of you tube and google maps) I would recommend changing the parental control password regularly, as any observant child will learn the password you set quickly.

The touch screen is responsive and using the kindle is very intuitive. My son could easily use it after a couple of minutes playing and trying it out. He uses it for games, e-books, and internet access and e mail. E mail was very easy to set up on the Kindle Fire.

It is a much better, sturdier, and user friendly choice in my opinion than the equivalent priced Android tablet. The battery life is not great, but lasts well enough for the kinds of times a child would generally be allowed to use it in a day. My son is a fairly heavy user and I usually charge it over night.

It is easy to add new games and apps. And the download speed and streaming speed is good.

The downside is that amazon restrict the apps available, so they are much more limited than say, apple, I tunes, or android.

It's not an equivalent to an I pad, if you buy it as such, you will be disappointed, but, for the price, an excellent choice of tablet / reader.

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Good tablet device, the Kindle fire is a great entertainment option.

Hmmm... So how to keep the kids quiet? Buy them a kindle! No, only joking, the Amazon Kindle was a Christmas present for my two daughters too share, aged 13 and 16

However I must admit that they can only use it, if they can prize it out of my hands! And that is simply because it has so much to do on it!

The Kindle Fire is pretty light and slim with a fairly wide screen and really simple to navigate with a extremely easy set-up process, which even I can use without trouble! I was a little worried to begin with as I knew that prior to this Amazon only really had experience with e-readers, and I myself was more inclined to a Blackberry tablet.

However the Kindle Fire has completely blown me away, not least the endless amount of apps, with my daughters adding new games almost every day, and me myself being ever so slightly addicted to one of these games... If only I could get past level 157...grrrr!

The Kindle is very easily portable as it is slim and lightweight and it stores lots and lots of songs as I recently found out when taking it with me on a long football train trip to Newcastle, with a good quality display and a extremely long battery life, which says a lot in our house!

The Amazon Kindle works on the Android operating system and is connected to the Amazon store for downloading apps.

I got the Kindle fairly cheap at just £99 and it had been well worth every penny for hours of varied entertainment with my wife particularly enjoying the e-books and me playing games like a big kid!

The only con that I can think of is that sometimes the Kindle suddenly stops charging and you have to make sure that the charger is VERY securely in place. Oh and one more thing- I could do with another one!

But seriously, for a family-friendly, entertaining, slim, lightweight, device with a long battery life and bundles of apps and storage space, then a an Amazon Kindle Fire is the perfect solution!

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Brilliant value tablet, would highly recommend.

My girlfriend has a love of books like nobody I've ever known. So, whilst desperately seeking inspiration last Christmas, I decided to buy her a Kindle Fire.

Well I've set myself up for a fall this year, as I have no idea how I'm going to improve on a present she loves so much!! It rarely leaves her side!!

The kindle fire is a smart, sleak little number, looks great and is simple to use. Being a little behind the times, I didn't realise when I bought it that it is so much more than an e-reader. The range of apps is unbelievable, she has new games every week to keep the kids amuses on long car journeys, and I'm even allowed to have a go myself, and with internet browsing via wifi she can use facebook, twitter and the likes, while I can easily keep up to date on the latest football news.

The main thing it gets used for at our house is the music player. It stores an obscene amount of songs and she has multiple playlists set up. The speaker quality is also pretty good for its size, and it can be connected to a stereo or other speakers if you wish. It's perfect for in the garden or around the house.

In conclusion, get one NOW!!! Although I cant compare it to other similar tablets that I've never used, the Kindle fire has far exceeded my expectations in terms of ease of use, how much use we've had from it, and most of all its versatility.

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A very good tablet with some little annoyances

Introduction

I've always wanted a kindle ever since the original Amazon Kindle's came out in 2007. I wanted something to help me read books and the Kindle looked like the device for me. I always like to have the coolest and latest devices.

Upon my 21st birthday a family friend bought me one as a gift as she is wanting to get me to read a lot more books. She liked the idea of the Kindle Fire because it could do a lot of other things as well as using it as a e reader.

About the Kindle Fire

The Kindle fire is Amazon's first attempt at creating a tablet device. It's based on the Amazon kindle e reader and is very similar in a lot of ways. It was first released November 11th 2011.

The device is based on the Android operating system. Amazon have slightly tweaked the operating system and have made the system so it's even easier to use and very easy to to find what you are looking for.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Easy to useVery good quality screenBattery life lasts a long timeLovefilm connectivity works well

Cons

HeavyBack of the Kindle feels like plasticIssues charging the device

My opinion

Starting off the device looks very sleek, the screen is very nice to look at and considering this is the basic non HD version I can only imagine what the HD version looks like it must look very nice. I use my Kindle to watch films and tv shows a lot of the time. I can use this along side my Lovefilm account. The only thing I don't like about the device is the way that the back of it feels, it feels like plastic. I have solved this problem with buying a leather case that feels nice.

The Android operating system works well it's very easy to use and features a turn style main homepage that remembers your last used apps and this looks really nice it's useful if you are reading a book and then you can quickly exit and enter the book almost like a bookmark.It's wonderful how stream less using the device it's every easy and everything just seems like it has been perfectly formatted for the Kindle. You can tell that the Kindle has been built from the ground up and everything just works.

One of the main things that lets down this device in my opinion is the fact that you have to use the Amazon store to download apps. The Amazon app store is not the best but it does make sense at the same time because Amazon is directly in competition with google's own tablets. On the other hand you can get around this by pre loading apps that aren't available on the Amazon app store and you can hack the Kindle to download google play store onto it.

Another little annoyance is sometimes I have noticed that when charging the device the device doesn't charge and has to be facing a certain way in order to charge and if I move the device slightly the Kindle will stop charging all of a sudden. This can be very annoying.

Summery

The Amazon Kindle fire is a great tablet. I mainly just use mine for Reading books, watching tv shows and films. Checking my email and Twitter and Facebook. It's very easy device to use and I recommend that you buy one if you have been thinking about buying one.

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great for book lovers, finally get the hype!

I've got to say that when Kindle's first came out I hated them, hated the idea of them and actively hated anyone who had one. Until I caved in and got one. The main reasons for this are the price of books and its size, compared to a book. On the kindle classic books can be bought for free, instead of retailing in Waterstones for around £8. Also, for people like me, who are really into reading longer and bigger books, it can't be beaten! Much easier to take a kindle places than to try and transport a 1000 page heavy bulky brick sized book!

It definitely feels better to read a book on than I anticipated, due to the various fonts that you can choose from and the fact that you can customise it to a sepia background. Also it's perfect for reading outside as you can dip in and out of books as you wish and in the sun, the screen is still visible. Another feature of the Kindle Fire which is a bonus over a standard book is that it tells you how many minutes there are to the end of a chapter after calculating your reading speeds: perfect for reading on short journeys such as buses, or just to check your progress.

I doubt I'll fully swap to my Kindle Fire, however, because I love the feel of a book and how bright and enticing book cases look with all my books on display, but for more expensive books, bulkier books and books that you're not sure on, it really is a great product. Although I can't find any yet on the Kindle Store, I am holding out for textbooks to be available, as it'd be much easier to carry a Kindle around than to cart massive books to lectures.

I would choose the Kindle Fire over other models due to its price, at £129, and also its extra features, other than an e-reader. It's about £40 cheaper than the HD version but doesn't have a huge amount of features different to it: the HD version has a brighter screen and a camera, but also suffers in the way that its bigger for it. My mum has the HD version and I would say that, unless a camera is necessary for you for Skype calls, for example, that the Kindle Fire is just as good; and at £40 cheaper, better value for your money's worth. I would say that its a very good e-reader, but as a tablet, it is pretty standard compared to the rest of the market: it has a wide array of games and apps, all of which have a good interface on its screen. These extra tablet features are what sets it apart from the cheaper and more basic Kindle Paperwhite, which is just used for reading books. I would also say that, as a person who used to be adamantly against touch screen technology, that the touch screen is easy to use and not too sensitive. It does get finger marks and smudges on it easily though: I tend to use a glasses cloth to clean the screen quite often and keep it looking shiny.

On the downside, the charge definitely does suffer for having games and apps and a full colour screen. I seem to remember my mum having one of the older Kindle models and it lasting for a month between charging. With the Kindle Fire I'd say that it depends on how much you use it, but that it won't need charging everyday: I'd say I use it a fair amount and charge it every few days. I would point out that it does take a long time to charge however. All in all, I'm glad I gave in and bought a Kindle: and for your money's worth, and the extra features that it has over a standard e-reader, I would say that the Kindle Fire is your best bet.

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nice, but plenty of room for improvement

I have to confess I was against the idea of e readers from the moment they were first introduced - I LOVE real books, the way they look, feel and even smell is all part of the reading experience which completely get taken away by reading on some sort of electronic device. I love real books so much I have three big bookcases full of the things and it's still not enough!

How does any anti e-reader like me end up with a kindle of all things?Anyway I was browsing books (funnily enough) on amazon one day and noticed that there were some free kindle ones that looked interesting, but were on the expensive side to buy physical copies of. Being one who finds it hard to resist a freebie, the cogs in my mind started turning - I get vouchers through work, I can pick Tesco vouchers, Tesco sell Kindle, I could buy a kindle with vouchers ergo free kindle, free books... So after acquiring myself some Tesco gift cards I set off to my local large Tesco to have a look at the available options. Initially I was just planning to buy the basic model for just shy of £70, however this didn't seem to have a light on and my boyfriend always whinges about my reading in bed keeping him up so I looked up the scale and noticed the Kindle fire allows you to do all sorts of things including having a photo section. As a photographer this appealed as it means I can have an extensive portfolio on me at all times (incase of last minute or impromptu meetings) or even just my most recent images that I haven't yet printed out to show any potential clients. There was the Kindle fire HD above this at £159, but as I just had £100 in Tesco gift cards a kindle was looking like less and less of a 'free' purchase and HD seemed like a bit of an unnecessary extra.

Why a kindle and not an alternative e reader?The answer is as simple as the fact that I know kindle will be compatible with whatever I download from amazon, and it seemed much simpler to buy one of them then any possible faffing about with other brands to get everything to sync up, especially when technology frustrates me so easily.

Is it all in the looks?I have to say the Kindle fire is rather attractive - black all over with a matt finish rear and gloss black 'framing' to the front, the whole thing is quite shiny and screams new and modern. At the base you have a small power button next to the USB connection and a small jack I'm guessing is for headphones.

Nice shiny screen ay?As the Kindle fire range are a gloss screen as opposed to the 'lower' models from the instant I saw them I thought it would damage easily and as there's no screen protector provided I bought a case for it there and then - I'd recommend everyone do this right away or you'll kick yourself when you get a nice big scratch right down the middle of the screen. One other point about the gloss finish screen - yes it looks lovely but the damn things drive me mad with finger prints, from the instant you first touch it there are nasty greasy finger smears regardless of how clean your hands are. Why on earth can't they make a good quality colour screen with a matt finish?! It just seems so backwards and it's maddening.

What's in the box?Not a lot! Honestly I can't remember the last time I bought a product with less in it - there's basically just the kindle itself and a USB cable. I have to say I think it's pretty stingy of amazon not to give you any sort of mains adaptor, as it comes you can't charge it away from a computer. Luckily my phone charger has a USB plug so I just use mine for that purpose. Furthermore there were no instructions!

No instructions? A travesty! Whatever shall we do?Ok so it's not the most complicated thing to get up and running, you just turn it on and follow the set up process on screen but there are things I'd have liked to have known like a) does it come fully charged? (still not sure if it did or not, I just plugged it in anyway), b) how do you get the screen to flip (I'm assuming it does this as otherwise annoying viewing landscape photos in a portrait orientation and it would be useful for web browsing, either way I can't find anything in the settings) and c) can you delete things already loaded on the kindle? (I have no interest in reading 'The New Oxford American dictionary' but can't for the life of me figure out how to get rid of it).

Any other irritating niggles?Unless I've missed it entirely, the screen doesn't seem capable of auto adjusting brightness, I've got so used to this feature on mobiles that I find it irritating having to do this manually according to changing lighting conditions. Another glaring (quite literally) problem with the screen is that in bright sunlight you can see your own reflection really strongly, regardless of the brightness settings. I found this so distracting while reading in the car (don't worry I was the passenger) that I kept finding instead of concentrating on reading I kept looking at the reflection of my nose and thinking how horrible it looked from that angle!

When it comes to photos the colour and contrast reproductions are very good, but all the pictures look soft even though in reality they are bitingly sharp, this is fine at a distance but no good for close scrutiny and I guess is something the HD varient deals with better. For all other purposes the screen is more than sharp enough.

Battery life, in my opinion, is nothing to shout home about, infact I think it's pretty poor - if you're going somewhere with no access to mains electricity then take a real book, you'll need it if you like reading and are away more than a day! I took this with me to cumbria for the weekend, charged it up before I left (which takes a good few hours) and read for maybe 6 hours before the battery died on me, at least we were nearly home again by that point (and I had taken a real book too). I believe the cheaper/e reader only kindles, have much better battery life as they're less power intensive.

So what's good about it?As the fire is evolved from other e readers you'd expect the book reading experience to be simple and it is. Pages fill the whole screen, text is easy to read (size adjustable), flicking pages is quick, you can keep track of percentage read, easy to book mark, you can change the colour of the 'paper' etc. Books are also organised in order of what you last downloaded/looked at so you shouldn't have to keep scrolling through a huge mass to find your current read.

Web browsing is easy with the keyboard easy to type on, which leads me nicely onto my next point - the touchscreen on which responsiveness is excellent. The kindle store is generally easy to use to, if you know what you're looking for you can find books quickly and downloading is just a simple click and takes meer seconds, my only problem with the store is you can't seem to refine the sort order by free/price.

Wifi connections are quick to set up and once you've logged into one it seems to automatically connect when you're in range.

You paid how much?!At £129 this is far from the cheapest e-reader on the market, however as a tablet computer it would be considered cheap. The HD version is currently retailing for £30 more.

So should you buy one?Despite all the pitfalls I'm still fairly happy with my purchase and wouldn't say it's a bad product. If you just want to read on it I'd suggest buying one of the cheaper priced kindles - they should have better battery life and not suffer from fingerprints or glare issues. If you want to display photos or watch videos, consider pushing the budget up to the HD one to get that sharpness this model is lacking.